The Family Literacy Interactions of Muslim Immigrant Mothers and Daughters as Revealed Through a Symbolic Interactionism-Multiliteracies Framework

The purpose of this dissertation research was to explore interactions between Muslim immigrant mothers and daughters living in the U.S. that reveal their family English literacy practices inside/outside of their homes/communities. The theoretical framework of this research consists of symbolic interactionism and multiliteracies. From these perspectives, social interaction is key to developing shared understandings, e.g., language and literacy. Symbolic interactionism is an interpretive exploratory methodological approach suited for studying culture and social interaction. For this examination, ethnographic case study methods were utilized. Nine months of fieldwork were conducted with three families and five adult Muslim mother-daughter dyads (18yrs or older) resettled in the Northeastern region of the U.S. The selected Muslim mother-daughter dyads currently support one another’s language and literacy development within a resettlement context. This dissertation research study examined how implicit and explicit cultural symbols were constructed and reconstructed through interaction. Recursive qualitative data analysis, including eclectic coding and reflexivity, ensured the study’s quality and rigor. The findings of this research were organized into four Paces that covered the whole of my fieldwork: Pace 1 Recruitment failure or overly protected population?; Pace 2 Six months, “Finally!”: Rehana the community key-bearer; Pace 3 Maghrebi: I am welcomed to their private/family sphere; and Pace 4 What remains after the last drop of tea?: Five emergent themes (Ibada; identities are built and sustained through language; all family members support literacy development; Tarbiyah; and discipline teaches responsibility and builds character). This exploration revealed how meaning emerges, was mediated, and renegotiated for these marginalized females as they engaged with the dominant U.S. culture. These research findings may dispel anti-Muslim ideologies and monolithic beliefs about Islam, expand knowledge of relevant and significant cultural aspects that elude some educators, and challenge deficit-oriented ideas about gender, language, and literacy.